Flipkart takes minority stake in MapMyIndia to improve delivery capabilities

E-commerce major Flipkart has announced a strategic minority stake in MapmyIndia, a leader in premium quality digital map data, GPS navigation, tracking, location-based apps and GIS solutions, for an undisclosed amount.
The investment is in line with Flipkart’s strategy to strengthen its supply chain through technology to license map data and location technologies from MapmyIndia.
“The objective of this partnership is to deploy location intelligence capabilities across Flipkart’s logistics network, enabling it to strengthen its first mile pick-up, and last mile delivery operations. In the future, several unique and industry-first services are likely to be introduced, e.g. better Address Verification, real-time Shipment Tracking, Facility Mapping and Theft Minimisation via Geo-fencing, among others,” said a press statement.
MapmyIndia will continue to independently serve all consumers and enterprises customers across all industries with its full range of products and solutions. However, with Flipkart’s investment, MapmyIndia’s early financial investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Lightbox Ventures, will exit the company.
Binny Bansal, COO and Co-founder, Flipkart, said, “With this strategic investment, we are taking another concrete step toward transforming the supply chain ecosystem in India, making technology and information the driver of our supply chain and logistics solutions.”